The year is 1000. Europe is coated in a polytheistic paint. Catholicism failed to ever take proper hold in the western world, being seen as an elitist religion in the Roman Empire. When Rome collapsed (both in the West and the East), its void was filled by many tribes. Some centuries later, many of these tribes have united into singular, feudalistic kingdoms, in order to combat raiders from the west, the east, the south, the north, and the sea. Will they stand the test of time, grow larger, or collapse into tribes once more? Rules Two pages = ten years. May be subject to change. Battles do not decide wars. Instead, sieges do. More rules of warfare to come soon once they're practically tested. Provinces you take have to border eachother. You're gonna have to blob. When creating a kingdom, if there's a bunch of tiny provinces you want can have the entire country - e.g Slovenia and Moldova - and that's it. If you're taking larger ones like French, German provinces (the map uses states, which are amalgamations of German kingdoms/French regions, and not their actual provinces, dunno why, sorry), you can have two or three and no more. You'll have to conquest for extra. Technologies can only be made up to two years before their real life counterparts were invented. If there's a dodgy date, then it'll be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Wars are turn based. For example, preparing for an invasion/your defences takes one post, the initial invasion would take another, and so on. Kingdoms can be inherited through personal unions and eventually integrated after twenty years. You're allowed two royal marriages with another kingdom at once, and I'll decide if its ruling ruler dies and you inherit after some time. Obviously this doesn't work if you're getting married to another player's family. Application (remove my entries, fill out with your own): Kingdom Name: Deyrnas Prydain (The Kingdom of Britain) Map Colour: Red Dominant Ethnicity: Celtic Britons Backstory: After the Roman Empire fell, the natives of the island of Great Britain united and drove out the Anglo-Saxon invaders, banishing them to just the east and north of the island and the rest back into mainland Europe, thus preventing the English nation to ever unite. The Brythonic tribes then united into Deyrnas Prydain, although they still have twiddly thumbs about the settled remaining Anglo-Saxon tribes to the north. Ruling Dynasty: The House of Aberffraw (The descendants of the first Welsh/Briton king, Rhodri the Great) Religion: Polytheistic Brythonic Celtic pagans. Provinces: All of Wales, Cornwall, all of West England, and London.
Kingdom Name: The Kingdom of Burzumnia Dominant Ethnicity: Danes Backstory: The Viking age still has its hand upon Northern Europe, although with the Unification of Denmark in the 10th Century, the lands that the Danes call home is now evolving at a fast rate. Villages and towns are spreading everywhere, and Denmark's trade and sea control that they possess is immense. Now, Denmark is starting to evolve its armies. No longer is there a need for consistent pillaging of towns and raids which a small percentage of the country involves in, now the land of Denmark is establishing itself into a great unified nation. Unfortunately, the great king Sweyn Forkbeard went terribly ill and died abruptly, while his son Cnut was in East Anglia attending to foreign affairs. Thus, his son, Burzum took the crown and now rules what is now known as Burzumnia. Although Burzum the Great has many plans for his unfairly inherited nation, his lust for expansion and war is disturbing... Ruling Dynasty: The House of Burzum (Sweyn Forkbeard's son, I altered history here, let us just say he had a son other than Cnut ) Religion: Norse Paganism Provinces: All of Denmark, Schleswig-Holstein, Skane, Halland, Blekinge (the Faroe Islands if you allow) and Mecklenburg.
With the death of the legendary Sweyn Forkbeard comes mourning within Denmark. His death was the cause of an abrupt sickness which had overcome the house of his loyal subjects a week before. During his quick death, his son Canute was out in East Anglia discussing foreign affairs with Nobility there. Unfortunately, he did not receive any news about his father's death. Thus, his younger brother, Burzum forcefully took the crown, disobeying the contract in which Canute was supposed to be the direct heir to the throne. Burzum can be best described as very disturbed and hungry for conquest, as seen during his various conquests on Mecklenburg a year earlier which was instructed to be done by his father. Burzum is first and foremost a warrior and prides in his legacy. Maybe he's a bit too prideful. Anyhow, once Canute received the news of his father's death, he quickly returned to Odense where he discovered his designated crown now on the head of his younger brother. Canute protested this and with his men, attempted to seize the crown for himself rightfully. Although Burzum had the upper hand, with his father's bodyguard under his hand he depleted Canute's forces, then he himself slaughtered Canute as well as all of Canute's followers and royal subjects who had oppressed Burzum's crown. This is known as the "First Day Massacre" in which many were killed on the first day of Burzum's rule. Burzum, now with the House of Burzum under him, declared all of the controlled territories originally belonging to his dad, the Kingdom of Burzumnia. It is Burzum The Great's ultimate goal to comprise a massive army of fighting men from all over Burzumnia, as well as a massive fleet of over 400 longships. This is a goal difficult to reach, as he now resides in a throne which does not belong to his, and how he can risk rebellion, but his tendencies for mass expansion is threatening indeed. (Those of you who do not know much about history, I just want to mention Burzum is a fictional character I made, so this is an alternate timeline, although Canute and Forkbeard were real, just clarifying so I don't bring confusion.)
Burzum has held his throne for months, and in that span of time, he has constructed many devious and unjustified acts. The Church greatly opposes the ruling of Burzum and spits at their Pagan ways. Although Catholicism was never expansive as much as Paganism was, leaving the Catholic presence in Burzumnia to be very faint. Thus, this direct opposition to the throne of Burzum starts the course of the removal of monks out of Denmark. Religious folk may stay and dwell in their land, as long as they contribute and avoid converting others. So far, the King has grouped up many mercenaries around the country and has ordered them to sack every monastery, enslave the dwellers there, plunder their gold and to store their holy relics and writings which will be put into a grand library in Aarhus. Burzum loves destruction, but not the destruction of history. Although the teachings of the Norse gods are a huge part within the Dane culture, Catholicism still exists but is a minor threat to the Pagans. Burzum's army is starting to expand, he is ordering the project of many longboats and is bringing in many fighting men into his army. Although a massive army standing still drains a lot of food, so the King orders them to stay within their villages, although during the time of war they are ordered to fight by Burzum's side. It's kind of like feudalism, although all soldiers are paid with by Honourable ranks and loot sacked after battles.
